Famous industrialist and L&T Chairman SN Subramanian recently advised to work 90 hours a week, which has sparked debate on social media and in the industry. He said that the culture of working even on Sunday should be adopted. Subramanian made this statement during the discussion on the company’s 6-day working policy.
In his statement he said, “What will you do by staying at home? How long will you keep looking at your wife? Come to the office and work.” This comment created a lot of controversy. He claimed that working more hours a week could make India globally competitive.
The debate started with the advice of Narayan Murthy
Earlier, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had suggested working 70 hours a week. Subramanian took it further and supported a working period of 90 hours. Referring to an incident, he said that Chinese employees work 90 hours a week, which helps them to overtake America.
L&T defended the statement
L&T Group defended Subramanian’s statement, linking it to efforts at “nation building”. “Our aim is to contribute to making India a developed nation, and this requires collective effort,” the spokesperson said.
criticism on social media
The video of Subramanian’s statement went viral on social media. It became a topic of debate after it was posted on Reddit. Many users linked his statement to exploitation and insensitivity of employees. People especially expressed displeasure over the comment about “looking at the wife”.
Many people took a dig at this and wrote that it is inappropriate to ignore personal life and mental health. This statement is facing widespread criticism raising questions on work balance and employee welfare
